PrinsValium has designed a PCB with a programmable controller and a mounting plate that will fit inside a regular Filco tenkeyless keyboard case, which will enable every Filco tenkeyless user to use a full set of good old Cherry keycaps, including Cherry’s original 1.5x wide Ctrl and Alt keys. Detail technical discussion is here.

Unique features:

[*]Supports vintage Cherry double shot, laser, and dye sub keycaps

[*]1.5x Ctrl and Alt vintage Cherry keycaps (PHANSI and PHISO plate options)[*]With 1.5x modifiers, you can also use Cherry’s 7x spacebars[*]Supports centered-stem and offset-stem Capslock (also from vintage Cherry Keyboards)[*]Also support modern keyboard layout with 1.25x Ctrl and Alt modifiers (PHANSIWIN and PHISOWIN plate options)[/list][*]Supports both Costar and Cherry stabilizers[*]Supports in-switch LED at Capslock and Scroll Lock locations, as well as Filco style LED locations between PrintScrn-ScrollLock-Break and Insert-Home-PageUp[*]Plate design allows Cherry MX switch top removal without de-soldering the switch first

[*]PLU cases could also work[/list][*]Community support on Geekhack.org and Deskthority.net[/list]

Latest PCB design:

Other unique features of this design:-There are 4 extra holes on the PCB for each switch that should provide each stem/spring replacement without desoldering the switch from the PCB and metal plate. - per 7bit’s request, you could do something crazy like this for the front row:

HaveANiceDay started the project originally with PrinsValium, and we are carrying it forward. Here is HaveANiceDay’s original post:

Quote from: HaveANiceDay

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"Who was that shape in the shadows? Whose is that face in the mask?"

Ladies and Gentlemen!I am happy to finally announce a project of mine in co-operation with PrinsValium of the Symmetric Stagger Board fame.

For a long time I have lusted after the Korean custom keyboards, jealous of the ability to use a full set of Cherry double shot and dye sub keycaps without substitutes!You see, I never cared about their CNC carved Alumin(i)um bodies and I spoke about that on a few occasion. The holy grail, for me, are the keycaps.

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I reached out to PrinsValium, told him my story and asked if he was interested. Luckily, he shares my views on this and he agreed to [strike]help me out[/strike] do all the work for me.

Now, before you fall asleep I'll go ahead and tell you what you probably have already guessed from the story above:We are making a PCB with a programmable controller and a mounting plate, which will enable every Filco tenkeyless user to use a full set of good old Cherry keycaps!

Wait, what? Just for the Filco tenkeyless? Why?It's practically impossible to make one PCB compatible with all the keyboard bodies out there, so we went with this one for a few reasons:1. The Filco is probably the most popular tenkeyless brand around here.2. The keyboard body on the Filco is in my opinion beautiful, I actually think it looks better than the Korean custom Alumin(i)um bodies.3. It costs a lot to make low volumes of keyboard bodies, way more than a whole Filco tenkeyless.4. I already own one! Yes, the privilege of being project lead.

If you still don't have a good idea what it would look like, it's basically the 86U layout!

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We would need 1-sized windows keycaps for in between CTRL and ALT, but luckily there are cheap Cherry boards with just the right keycaps available.

FAQ

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Why "Phantom"?It's a Phantom behind the Filco mask!

What IS the Phantom?A "unisex" PCB (fits ANSI and ISO), the Teensy controller and a matching mounting plate.It fits the Filco tenkeyless and most likely the PLU ML-87(the insides of the case are identical to the Filco).

I don't know how to solder, am I SOL?If you don't want to or can't do soldering, you can contact alaricljs (located in the USA) or Half-Saint (located in Europe). They are offering their soldering service. You will have to order parts from this group buy and tell us to ship the parts to one of them. You will need to work out the cost and shipping arrangement with them directly.

Why the Filco tenkeyless/PLU ML-87 and not another brand?1. Filco are probably the most popular around geekhack of all the tenkeyless keyboards.2. Both of those are compatible with each other, thus increasing the market size.3. I already own one :P

Is this compatible with the Filco tenkeyless gen1 AND gen2?Yes.

Can I use ALL of the Cherry doubleshots/dye-subs with the Phantom? Meaning the entire bottom row with the 7-sized spacebar and the off-center capslock?YES! This is the main reason we are doing this.

But I really like the modern layout my Filco has, can I keep it the way it was?Sure, PCB is fully compatible with both choices.

What layouts are supported by the PCB?ANSI and ISO in standard Filco or oldschool Cherry layout.Also there is support for the shorter shift + FN key, like on the HHKB!Another option that is available is the UNIX layout.

Can I use it to convert my ANSI Filco tenkeyless to ISO?Yes, and from ISO to ANSI as well!

Can I re-use my old Filco mounting plate if I just want PCB with the reprogrammable controller?Yes.

Do I have to buy the switches myself?Not if you reuse the old ones from the Filco.

Can I use PCB mounting (without the mounting plate)?No, there are no holes on the PCB that are needed for PCB mounting. There were good design reasons to leave them out, sorry.

What stabilizers are supported by the mounting plate?Costar(Filco) and Cherry stabilizers.We still have to look if we can cram both of them on one mounting plate.

Will there be just one mounting plate?No. Every layout will probably get a matching mounting plate.

What will the PCB look like?It will have an awesome black finish on both sides with white silkscreen markings for easier switch mounting. The Phantom logo and text will be embedded on the copper layer like on the Filco gen2.

What will the mounting plate look like?Bare metal which you can spray-paint as you want and if you want :)

Update history:---

People who are involved in this group buy:PrinsValium: PCB and plate designBiNiaRiS: plate ordering, payment collection, US distribution7bit: payment collection, European distributionLitster: Organizer, group buy communication

The PCB should be between US$25 to US$40 each. And the plate should be between US$20 to US$30 each. The finally price has yet to be determined. Each order includes 1 PCB, 1 plate, 1 controller. You will need to source your own diodes and Cherry switches. And you will need to solder them together yourself.

I don't know how to solder, am I SOL?If you don't want to or can't do soldering, you can contact alaricljs (located in the USA) or Half-Saint (located in Europe). They are offering their soldering service. You will have to order parts from this group buy and tell us to ship the parts to one of them. You will need to work out the cost and shipping arrangement with them directly.

Total cost per kit should be between US$80 to US$120, depending on how many orders we have for bulk discount, shipping cost (factory to distributors, distributors to you), packaging cost, and paypal fees. As always, you the buyers will be responsible for all custom taxes, if any.

Order instruction:

The ordering system is up, so you can now order all parts you need to build you own Phantom keyboard!

The prices in the list are estimates and might change (most likely they will be cheaper in the end).

EDIT1: changed order information a little to be more explicit.EDIT2: Added soldering service information.EDIT3: 7bit's ordering system information addedEDIT3: PCB layout updated at the top of this post

Status update: December, 19th, 2011First test plates were ordered, made, and second sets of plates are ordered for minor changes. Should be done this week. Also test PCBs have just been ordered as well.

Status update: November 21st, 2011A quick update. Test plates have been ordered last week. They should be done this week. But this week is only a 3-day work week due to the US Thanksgiving holidays. BiNiaRiS will may an PHANSI plate to me and I will put switches and keycaps on the plate to verify the plate. PCB design will be finalized after that and then we can order a couple of test PCBs for one more round of verification. If everything goes well, we can then collect payments for PCBs and plates.

Status update: November 10th, 2011BiNiaRiS is going to make 2 prototype mounting plates as soon as he receive seed money from the 3 of us. Once the plate is made and checked, we will be ordering 2 PCBs so I can build a prototype Phantom to confirm everything is working before we order all the parts.

Status Update: November 5th, 20117bit found a source who can provide us with Cherry MX switches of all colours. So Cherry switches are officially included in this group buy. We still need to source stabilizers.S

Satus update: November 4th 2011Behind the scene, we are finishing up the design and closing a few decisions. As you know we maybe getting a custom keycap made for this special keyboard. It will likely a separate group buy. We are looking into if we could include switches in the group buy, or direct group buyers to mouser or digikey to get the switches directly from these vendors. We are going to do a round of virtual measurement check of the plate design against an actual Filco tenkeyless keyboard. We will likely print out the PCB on cardboard in 1:1 scale to more measurement checking. Then we will make a couple of test plates, mount real switches onto them and do another measurement against a real Filco keyboard.

All the above I expect would take 2 weeks to 3 weeks. Once everything is checked out and that we are confident with the design, we will close the group buy, collect money, and order all the parts. That will likely take another month or two from ordering, manufacturing, shipping, sorting, shipping to our 2 distributors, and then ship out to buyers.I will update again when we have more info. Thanks.

I will have to check with BiNi and 7bit. I think BiNi shipped to overseas before.

Right now I think stabilizers would not be included as you can either reuse your Filco parts or source from somewhere else. I think in the original discussion thread it was mentioned there where to get stabilizers. We will dig that out and include the information in the first post.

interesting... might be interested as a nice project, but would love to be able to get a nice case for this also... Those OTD cases I would love to get my hands on one of those... like the one in your pic above.

I will have to check with BiNi and 7bit. I think BiNi shipped to overseas before.

Right now I think stabilizers would not be included as you can either reuse your Filco parts or source from somewhere else. I think in the original discussion thread it was mentioned there where to get stabilizers. We will dig that out and include the information in the first post.

I think we should figure out the shipping costs and ship from wherever it is cheaper.

They also have some cherry stabilizers. These are the tricky parts. The 2X wide will of course work like a charm. They can also be used as donors for converting PCB mount stabilizers to plate mounted ones. So if you have the correct length PCB mounted stabilizers, ordering the same number of these will set you up with what you need.

For longer stabilizers the 8X wide ones will of course be longer than enough in most cases. The wire of these can be cut to any length needed. Plus you'll need another 2X stabilizer for the plate mounts. I know it is a mess, there might be a more convenient supplier for stabilizers.

I am interested in this but too bad I have no knowledge or tools to solder all the parts together ;(

Any plans on a extra fee for putting it all together? Or am I better off trying to find and commission someone to do it?

This is also my problem.

I picked up one of those "learn to solder" kits from frys and started to work on that. I'm also interested in this project, and might join it since I figure I have all the time in the world to finish it and can go at my own speed

I'm just curious, there was mention of diodes previously in the thread. I didn't follow the original thread perfectly (who could?) but was wondering if they are required for function of the keyboard, and if so, are they mounted in the switches as they are on old Cherry boards or elsewhere on the PCB? Finally, it doesn't matter to me, but if the diodes aren't mounted in the switches, are there traces for LED backlighting if someone wants to go down that road?

Answers to the above don't change my interest, I am just asking out of curiosity. Probably ought to write up an "instruction sheet" detailing all the things you can do with the board...

This really is the easiest soldering job you'll find. Any old crummy soldering iron will get you through it if you try. Start with some diodes and switches, if they break it's not a big deal. There are a lot of diodes to fold though, I should know =P

We would like to include it, but aluminum casing is outside the scope of this group buy. I think oneproduct has a thread going with aluminum casing for Filco PCB. Not sure if it would come to fruition though.

Order count added to the 3rd post. And plate cut layouts added to the 2nd post. Also updated the order information at the end of the fist post. I assume demik and tsangan want ANSI15 plate. Speak up if you are not. Thanks.

With the ANSI125 PCB you can't use every single Cherry Corp keys am I correct because the modifiers won't fit

And a super noob question with the ANSI15 PCB won't there be a hole in between of the ctrl and alt since the casing has room for it

Yes, with ANSI125 you can't use Cherry's 1.5x modifiers. There are very few Cherry keyboards with 1.25x double shot modifiers. However you can use keycaps from Group Buy 3 or 4 or your original Filco keycaps in this configuration. You can use either centered stem or off-set stem CapsLock because the PCB and mounting plate can accomodate either.

With ANSI15, you will need to put a 1x keycap and key switch on both sides between the Ctrl key and the Alt key. Maybe 7bit needs to add a special front row 1x key in his keycap group buy 4.

Yes, with ANSI125 you can't use Cherry's 1.5x modifiers. There are very few Cherry keyboards with 1.25x double shot modifiers. However you can use keycaps from Group Buy 3 or 4 or your original Filco keycaps in this configuration. You can use either centered stem or off-set stem CapsLock because the PCB and mounting plate can accomodate either.

With ANSI15, you will need to put a 1x keycap and key switch on both sides between the Ctrl key and the Alt key. Maybe 7bit needs to add a special front row 1x key in his keycap group buy 4.

Oh awesome so with the ANSI15 I can use those awesome stepped caps + all the Cherry 1.5x modifiers and then I can technically have a 1x modifier in between the ctrl and alt

That is too awesome

*wonder if anyone besides 7bit will get the 7bit's special lol that is one intense layout

On the ANSI15 layout, I'm assuming that you need actual switches in the 1x positions in the bottom row, I'm assuming that it is possible to use, say, the left for the Super and right for Menu? Or does the plate not have cutouts for those switches at all? Still trying to decide which to go for...

Take 2 Cherry DS sets from Ascaii and use the arrows. Big arrow for Shift, small arrows for Super or Meta or whatever you want.

Still waiting for both those and my moogle kits :/ just trying to decide which I want to use.

That, and I don't actually HAVE a Filco tenkeyless, but if I got one of those metal cases that are being kicked around... that would be *awesome* :roll: can you imagine old school doubleshots on a stainless steel case? and of course I'd give the plate a nice paint job before assembly (what, I don't know... Three layer metalflake/candy/clear? Have it powdercoated Bright Frickin' Red? Paint it beige to match the keycaps? Decisions, decisions...)

maybe this board I would do ergo clears just to be different? (but I (heart) my straight clears so much)